


pequeña, tan frágil

by SeptemberSevertana



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cat adoption, Domestic, Established Relationship, F/F, Feelings, Little bit of angst, communication is key, everybody is an adult don't worry, implied sexytimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:08:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24177151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeptemberSevertana/pseuds/SeptemberSevertana
Summary: Catra and Glimmer try to adopt a cat. It doesn't go as planned until it does.AKA, relationships never stop taking work.
Relationships: Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 68





	pequeña, tan frágil

**Author's Note:**

> that stuff about covid lockdown leaving people a lot of free time...well, that definitely didn't work out on my part. i started writing this in early april and finished it today. i wanted to post one more time for this fandom before the last season comes out and throws all my headcanons out the window. i wrote this to "no vuelvas a mirar atrás" by alaina castillo in april (where the title comes from), and "urs" by niki and "dolerme" by rosalía today.
> 
> disclaimer: i've never adopted a cat from a shelter before. i've adopted a dog from a shelter before, but all the cats i know were either bought directly or wandered onto my grandparents' property and were fed until they decided to stay. the cats in the fic are named after said grandparents' cats because i'm both unoriginal and sentimental. :)
> 
> this fic is unbeta-ed and i don't think i've ever written an established relationship fic before either, but i hope i did a good job. please enjoy!

“Thank you. I don’t know what I’ll do to make it up to you.” 

Glimmer snorted. “No need for bribery. We’ll go to the animal shelter tomorrow, okay? Cats galore there, waiting for you to get super attached and adopt one.” 

Catra resisted the urge to bang her head against the wall until her forehead bled. “I mean it.” 

“It’s not that big of a deal, it’s just raising a down-on-their-luck feline.” Glimmer pecked Catra on the cheek, walking past her into their room. “I’m going to shower and go to bed.” 

Choking down every other response she could fathom, Catra replied, “I just have a bit more paperwork to do.” But the shower had already started running. 

…

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” Catra murmured to Glimmer, who’d turned on her stomach in the middle of the night and was probably suffocating herself in the pillow. 

“What time is it?” Glimmer said, her voice almost completely muffled. 

“An hour until the shelter opens.” 

Glimmer shifted onto her side, stretching and accidentally whacking Catra in the face. “Is that enough time to drink coffee and eat and put on clothes and stuff?” 

“Yes, dear.” Catra wrinkled her nose at the pain and got out of bed. At least coffee usually made Glimmer more aware of her surroundings. 

They were out of eggs. Glimmer must have made the last ones the day before, and then forgotten to buy more. Catra rolled her eyes at the fridge. Glimmer would likely object to having leftover lasagne for breakfast, so she’d have to break out the hashbrowns from the freezer. They were out of cereal too, because of course, they were. But there was half a gallon of milk left and some orange juice. Catra wrote ‘eggs’ on the shopping list, and then pulled the hashbrowns out, the good southwestern kind, and some bacon for good measure. 

“Hey, do you want three strips of bacon or what?” 

Glimmer mumbled an answer from the room, which Catra took to mean yes. She made three strips for herself as well, flipping the hashbrowns with her other hand. There had to be fruit somewhere in the apartment, Catra mused. Orange juice didn’t count, no matter how many times Glimmer said so. Raspberries, maybe. 

Glimmer stumbled into the kitchen twenty minutes later, her hair in a haphazard braid held together with an army of bobby pins, and wearing her ‘I’m totally an adult’ pantsuit. “Coffee.” 

Catra wordlessly passed her a cup, plating a mountain of hashbrowns and her bacon and sliding it across the counter at her. She ate her hashbrowns and bacon out of the pans, squirting soap on them and letting them soak as soon as she was done. Grease was a bitch. 

“Let me just grab some real clothes and then we’ll go,” said Catra, leaving the kitchen to the sight of Glimmer methodically shoving food in her mouth. She had her own version of the ‘I’m an adult’ pantsuit, except her blazer was in the wash. Swearing quietly, Catra yanked the pants on with a white tank top and her leather jacket. Maybe the people judging if she was a fit pet-parent would cut her some slack. 

Glimmer had finished eating by the time Catra had dressed and brushed her hair, nursing her coffee sullenly. “Are we good to go?” Catra asked, motioning at Glimmer’s mug. 

Nodding, Glimmer gulped down the last of her drink and put the mug in the sink. Catra pulled her keys out of her pocket and went to the door. “Um.” Catra broke off. “Thank you for doing this. I know it’s a big step.” 

Glimmer didn’t answer, just put a hand on Catra’s shoulder as she headed out to the car. 

“You look beautiful,” Catra murmured after her. 

…

“Hello, welcome,” the woman said, standing up and walking around her desk to shake Catra’s hand. “We talked on the phone, right?” 

“Yes. Catra Guerrera.” 

“And who is this with you?” 

“I’m Glimmer, Catra’s girlfriend.” Glimmer waved but didn’t step forward. 

“Alright. Follow me, we have a lot of wonderful animals here who would love a good home.” The woman, Bev, Catra remembered, led them past several pens of dogs before entering the door labeled ‘cats’. 

Catra had heard all the cat-related jokes about her name; her full first name was Catarina and she couldn’t pronounce the whole thing when she learned how to speak, so Catra had just stuck. Her love of felines was more or less unrelated. But cats were just so...freaking cute. Some padded up to their pen doors to scrutinize her and Glimmer, others frigidly looked the other way, and all of them were perfect in their own way. Glimmer would have to drag her away from trying to adopt every single one. 

“Anybody standing out to you?” Bev asked, patting a black and white cat on the head. “We have some older ones coming up if you’re interested.” 

“Let’s see them.” Glimmer gently led Catra away from a tiny orange kitten. 

“It’s harder for older animals to get adopted,” remarked Bev. “A lot of older cats are rescues, as well, with unkind or neglectful past owners.” 

“That’s awful,” Catra said quietly, passing a sleeping white cat. 

“Okay, down here we have Lizzy and Midge.” Bev pointed to a mottled grayish cat and a black cat with no tail. “Lizzy was pregnant when we found her. We delivered Lizzy’s kits and they were all healthy, but Lizzy lost a lot of weight, so she needed some extra care for a while. Midge had been wandering a neighborhood in the south of town for a few months. She got fed, thankfully; people would sometimes put food out for her. But eventually, she got called in because the main family feeding her moved away.” Midge was curled around Lizzy protectively, licking Lizzy’s ear every few seconds. “We put them in the same pen since they were both friendlier than a lot of our animals, and they’ve definitely taken to one another.” 

Catra squatted down, using one hand to balance on the floor and holding the other one out for an animal to sniff. Midge cautiously crept forward, her body blocking Lizzy’s from the unfamiliar people. Once Midge accepted the initial contact, she let Catra pet her head. Lizzy didn’t move until Midge came back, uttering a little sound as Midge nosed her side. Squatting became too uncomfortable, so Catra knelt on the floor, her knee mere inches from the pen. Lizzy took Midge’s place at the front of the enclosure, having no qualms about nuzzling into Catra’s outstretched palm. 

“Do you want to meet them, too?” asked Catra, continuing to pet Lizzy as she looked up at Glimmer. “They’re really nice.” 

Shifting her weight between her feet, Glimmer replied, “Maybe they should get used to you first.” Her braid was beginning to fall out; her eyes looked like glass. 

“Okay,” Catra conceded, averting her gaze to the floor, where Lizzy cocked her head plaintively, waiting for Catra’s full attention. Midge watched from the corner, careful. 

…

“So, what are you guys thinking?” Bev asked as they walked back to the front desk. 

“We should go home and sleep on it,” Glimmer said. She’d folded her arms, defensive. 

“Yeah.” Catra kept her eyes on the cat room, still visible through the open dog room door. “Yeah, we’ll discuss it.” 

Bev must have agreed because the next thing Catra knew, her and Glimmer were in the car, Glimmer’s seatbelt clicking. Catra had the keys in her hand and the car windows were rolling down and it all felt like nothing. 

“Hey, are you good? You have to keep your eyes on the road,” Glimmer interjected, motioning through the windshield. 

Catra nodded. 

…

“Yeah, we went to the animal shelter today. Looked at some cats.” Pause. “There were two that stood out but…” Pause. “I think they might be a package deal, but it’s her decision.” Pause. “That’s bullshit, okay? I wouldn’t have gone to the shelter with her if I didn’t want a cat…” Pause. “Well, maybe you should be in a relationship as long as I have been before you judge my animal adopting choices.” Pause. “You know what, I don’t need this right now. It’s between Catra and me.” Glimmer hung up the phone, grumbling under her breath. She unbuttoned her jacket, slipping it off her shoulders and hanging it back in her side of the closet. Her blouse flew into the laundry basket by the door, Glimmer’s throw ensuring that only some of it reached the target. Glimmer replaced her slacks with pajama pants. She left her braid in, even though Catra knew she’d be tossing and turning in the middle of the night trying to avoid bobby pins poking into her skull. 

“Nightcap?” Catra finally asked, motioning with her wine glass. 

“I’m fine.” Glimmer went into the bathroom to brush her teeth, the door gaping open behind her and letting a spear of yellow light cross the room. 

“Who was on the phone?” Catra made sure not to go near the rug; she’d spilled wine on it before and she preferred not to repeat the experience, for the carpet cleaner rental fee alone. 

“Does it matter?” Glimmer snapped, her voice muffled with toothpaste suds as she glared through the door. 

Catra shook her head. “No. Sorry, I asked.” She walked back through the dark apartment, draining the last of her drink and setting her glass on the counter. She rinsed it off in the sink, turning the overhead light off with wet hands. Catra had left her jacket on the couch, kicked her boots off somewhere near the bookshelf. She couldn’t sleep in her slacks; she’d have to iron them again. 

She wandered back into their bedroom, taking her slacks off and folding them as best she could with the bathroom door closed and only a sliver of light left. Crawling into bed, Catra nestled near Glimmer’s pillow; it always smelled like Glimmer’s conditioner, citrusy and bright. But it didn’t now. Glimmer must have thrown the pillowcases in the wash before Catra came home from work yesterday. Unconsciously, Catra curled into a ball in the middle of the bed, head between the two pillows, eyes screwed shut. 

The other half of the bed dipped as Glimmer got in. “Baby, you can’t sleep in your bra, it’s not good for you.” 

Catra shook her head. “It’s fine.” 

“No, it’s not.” Glimmer gently helped Catra sit up so she could unclip Catra’s bra and maneuver it off while keeping Catra’s tank top on. “Doesn’t that feel better?” 

Catra didn’t think she could answer, so she didn’t. 

Glimmer laid her head down, but got up a few minutes later, the sound of bobby pins clinking onto the nightstand echoing in the dark room. When she came back to bed, Catra had once more curled closer to Glimmer’s side, her toes stretching into the warm space she’d left behind. 

“Goodnight,” Glimmer murmured, pecking Catra on the forehead. 

“G’night.” 

…

“Hello again,” Bev said when they walked in. She immediately took the two of them back to the feline room, Catra first with Glimmer trailing a few feet behind her. “I’m happy you guys have come back, this way the cat or cats can get used to you. Familiarity can definitely help the more cautious animals feel comfortable.” 

Lizzy and Midge were curled up in the corner of their pen, solidly disinterested until Bev reached down to open the pen door. “Do you guys know how to hold cats?” she asked. 

Catra nodded. She restrained herself from making grabby hands toward the reasonably wary animals. Bev smiled, gently lifting Midge out of the pen and placing her into Catra’s waiting arms. Lizzy came next, holding very still as she was placed into Glimmer’s arms. 

“I’m going to be over there,” Bev said, “so that they can get to know you without me distracting them, okay?” 

Catra looked down at the warm bundle of fur in her hands. Midge looked decidedly disgruntled at being separated from Lizzy, but she snuggled into Catra’s chest after a few minutes, Catra running her fingers through the fur on top of her head. Glancing over at Glimmer, Catra found a much similar scene; Lizzy had somehow managed to turn her body to face Midge, but she seemed content, softly purring with her head nestled into the crook of Glimmer’s elbow. 

Catra’s heart hurt thinking about the two of them living in an animal shelter together for such a long time, and hurt even worse at the thought that someone might separate them in the future. 

“Babe,” Catra said quietly. 

Glimmer sighed. “I know.” 

“I know I asked to adopt a cat, I know two cats aren't in the deal.” 

Glimmer didn’t answer, patting Lizzy on the head. 

“I would never want to pressure you, especially since you’ve been so great about this already.” Midge pawed at Catra’s chest when she stopped petting her. Catra tried to breathe. “I just think they want to be together. And I can do more to help out with them, I won’t make you do a bunch of work.” 

One of the cats down the hall meowed loudly. Glimmer wouldn’t look at her. 

“We can talk about it tonight,” Catra finally said. 

The visit continued quietly, Catra and Glimmer murmuring to their respective cats and Bev occasionally walking by to ask how everything was going. Neither of them spoke to each other for the rest of their visit. When it finally came time to give Lizzy and Midge back to Bev, Glimmer and Catra left the cat room and got into their car with no fanfare. Glimmer picked gray fur off of her shirt, pulling her seatbelt on. Catra stared at herself in the rearview mirror; her eyes were a little bloodshot and her hair a little haphazard. 

She knew she wasn’t ideal, as far as partners went. She worked too much, she didn’t always take care of herself. She wasn’t in Glimmer’s friends’ good books, not really. It must have been Adora on the phone last night, questioning why Glimmer would take on the responsibility of pet ownership with someone like her. 

Catra started the car. 

…

“Do you want the leftover chicken?” Catra asked. The fridge was a bit sparse; maybe she’d go to the grocery store after dinner. Glimmer seemed like she needed space. 

Glimmer shook her head from the couch. 

Catra put the chicken in the microwave for herself, hesitant. “Can I get you anything? I’m making a list for the store in an hour or so.” 

“I just ran out of facial scrub.” 

Catra nodded. “Okay, you want the pink stuff like usual?” 

“Yes.” 

The list ended up only a few items long; the eggs were already on it, and the facial scrub, so Catra put cereal and hashbrowns on there too and put a note about brownies in case the brand Glimmer liked came back into stock. “I’ll be back in a half-hour or forty-five minutes.” Catra shut the apartment door behind her, her boots clomping on the stairs down to the parking lot, not waiting for an answer. 

Of course, when she got down to the car, she realized she forgot her keys. 

“Sorry, babe, I just left the-” Catra broke off when she came inside to the sight of Glimmer on the phone again. 

“There are two cats we’re looking at...yes, _two_ cats...they’re really attached to each other, okay?...God, why are you making this such a big deal?...” Glimmer stood up and started pacing. “Just…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. She must have been talking to her mother; both she and Angella made the same gestures when they were frustrated. 

“Sorry,” Catra whispered, taking her keys off the kitchen counter and leaving. 

…

The store thankfully had restocked the brownie mix Glimmer liked. Catra slid three boxes into her cart, just in case the store ran out again. She managed to get the last package of hashbrowns as well. They ate enough eggs that she thought she could get away with two cartons instead of one. The facial scrub was in the back corner of the store, and on a high shelf, no less. Catra threw a Mars bar on the checkout conveyor belt for good measure. Maybe they’d crumble it over the brownies or bake it in or something. 

She carried her groceries to the car, setting them in the passenger seat. Catra made sure to put the other items in front of the eggs so they’d be less likely to fall off and break. 

Catra took a deep breath. She took another deep breath because the first one was less a breath and more a sob, but this one wasn’t any better. Catra put her face in her hands, her elbows leaning heavily on the steering wheel. 

This was a mistake. Catra had pushed too far too quickly; Glimmer wasn’t ready for pets at this stage and maybe never would be. They’d moved in four months ago, maybe Glimmer needed more time to adjust, or maybe...maybe Glimmer just wasn’t as serious as Catra was. 

The lease had run out on the apartment Glimmer shared with Bow and Adora, and while Bow and Adora had been looking at places closer to their jobs, Catra’s apartment was closer to Glimmer’s office. They’d been dating for a few months before the move; Catra thought it would be good to get comfortable with living in the same space. It had made sense at the time. But now, crying in a grocery store parking lot with plastic bags in the passenger seat, nothing made any sense at all. 

Catra finally started the car once her vision wasn’t blurry anymore. She clicked the windshield wipers on and backed out of her parking space, driving home. 

…

Glimmer was in the shower when Catra came back, listening to music. Catra put the eggs in the fridge, the brownie mix in the cabinet above the dishwasher, and the hashbrowns in the freezer. The plastic bags went into a basket by the counter; Catra used them so that she didn’t have to buy tiny garbage bags for the bathroom trash can. She grabbed the facial scrub and walked through their bedroom to the bathroom, putting it in the cupboard next to the sink. 

Catra let out a long breath. She slipped out of her pants and socks, pulled her tank top over her head, let it all pool on the floor next to Glimmer’s clothes. She set her bra on the counter; it had a few more days of use out of it before she needed to wash it. “Do you mind?” she asked, hoping she was heard over the water. 

Glimmer pulled back the shower curtain. Catra stepped in, Glimmer’s hands falling on her waist. 

…

Catra sat cross-legged on the bed, her pajama shirt damply clinging to her frame. Glimmer tended to have more steps in her nightly routine, so Catra just waited. She picked at fuzzies on the duvet for a few moments, pulling gently at a thread poking out from the seam. 

Glimmer emerged in a cloud of steam, running a comb through her hair. She’d parted it already, throwing it into an uneven braid and tying it off with the purple hair tie on her wrist. Setting the comb back onto the sink, Glimmer shut the light off in the bathroom and climbed onto the bed next to Catra. 

“What are we doing?” Catra wondered softly. 

“What are you talking about?” asked Glimmer, her gaze meeting Catra’s in shock. 

“I love you,” Catra replied simply. “I’ve been in love with you since before we moved in together. And I thought you maybe felt the same way about me, or that you could get there someday. But I get scared that you will never feel that way, and when I try to take steps forward you’re just going along with it because it’s easier than leaving.” Her nails dug into her arms painfully. “If I sprung the cat thing on you too soon, I’m sorry. If we moved in too soon, I’m sorry, and we can always take things slower. But I’m ready to be more than we are, I’m ready to take steps forward with you. I just want to know if you feel that way, too.” 

Glimmer just looked at Catra for a minute. Catra felt her eyes welling up and spilling over but she was exhausted just thinking about trying to hide that. She swept a hand over her cheeks, but it was useless. 

“Please say something,” Catra begged, tears making her throat thick. “Please.” 

Glimmer pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. Wisps of her hair fell in her face. “I was scared of moving too fast.” 

“Okay, can you explain that?” asked Catra softly, putting a hand on Glimmer’s knee. She was probably getting the fabric of Glimmer’s shorts all saltwatery. 

“I’ve always jumped into things without thinking. Like, when I was a kid I got involved in ten different sports and quit after a few months because I didn’t like them anymore. I dated people but I never got emotionally invested, and then I always ended up breaking things off. My longest relationship before you was with Bow, and we didn’t work out because we were better at being friends.” She paused. “When I met you and we started dating, I told myself that I would turn over a new leaf, that I would communicate my feelings and actually put energy into you. Because I liked you, a lot.” 

“Okay,” Catra asserted, trying not to push. 

“I’d done the moving in thing, I’d shuffled my shit through apartment after apartment, and we’d always break up and it’d always be my fault. After I met you I wanted to just let us grow naturally, without all the expectations. I wanted to be worthy of you,” Glimmer said softly. “I didn’t want to be your flighty ex or your irresponsible fuck buddy or any of that, I wanted to be a person you could count on. I knew your family life was shitty. Your parents died and your foster mom was awful to you and Adora ditched you and I never ever wanted to hurt you like they did. But I knew that I wasn’t going to get to that place without work. So I tried really hard to slow down my dating timeline, to actually _date_ you instead of using you for food or sex or whatever. I tried to communicate better, to explain what was going on in my head. And for a while, I thought we really understood each other, I thought I was doing it right.” 

“And then I asked you to move in,” replied Catra. 

Glimmer looked up, tears clumping her eyelashes together. “I got scared. I thought I’d mess it up, just like I’d mess up the other ones. But it was good for a while. I love living with you. I love waking up with you in the morning and crawling in bed with you at night. I love all the domestic shit that I thought I hated. And I was just getting used to being comfortable with all of that when you asked if we could adopt.” 

“We don’t have to adopt right now,” Catra said pleadingly. “We don’t ever have to adopt if that’s not what you want.” 

“But I do want to adopt! I saw those cats and fell in love with them just like you did. But I’m terrified that I’ll get bored or restless and leave you to take care of them by yourself. That would be incredibly unfair of me, and I’m so scared that that’ll be my first instinct when we finally adopt them.” 

Catra reached her arms out, and Glimmer collapsed into them, crying into Catra’s shoulder. Glimmer’s braid fell out as Catra ran her fingers over and over through Glimmer’s hair, gently rubbing Glimmer’s scalp. 

“Adora and my mom both know me and keep calling, asking me to think really hard about whether I want to do this, because they know I’ve messed up in the past and they know that if I mess up with you I’ll never forgive myself,” Glimmer continued, her voice muffled into Catra’s skin. 

“I thought your mom didn’t like me,” answered Catra softly. 

“Of course, she likes you.” Glimmer kissed her and it tasted like salt. “All my friends like you, they know how I feel about you.” 

“You feel…?” 

“I love you, too, Catra.” 

Catra bent her head down to kiss Glimmer back. They kissed for a few minutes, Glimmer eventually adjusting to straddle Catra’s lap. Catra planted kisses on Glimmer’s throat, trailing down to the neck of her t-shirt and the edge of her collarbone. 

“I...I want to adopt Lizzy and Midge with you. And I’m so in love with you that it’s actually crazy. Is that how you feel too?” Catra finally asked, her nose nudging Glimmer’s shirt down her shoulder. 

“Yes. Yes to all of that.” Glimmer impatiently pushed Catra’s face out of the way to take off her shirt. “We just showered,” she remarked as Catra’s mouth found its way back to her chest. 

“We can shower whenever we want,” Catra replied, smirking. 

…

Midge was skeptical about the apartment for the first few days. She would pad in circles around the living room and pad in circles around the kitchen and pad in circles around wherever Lizzy had decided to take a nap. Catra made sure to pet her as much as possible, to bribe Midge with cuddles as it were, to make her comfortable. Lizzy enjoyed curling up in Glimmer’s lap and purring up a storm. 

Although, both cats were extremely miffed when their two humans would close the bedroom door and cuddle with each other instead.


End file.
